Wizard's Chess
by irishais
Summary: Draco still had no idea how he had managed to end up seated at the same table with her, playing a game of wizard's chess, for over an hour and he hadn't even called her a Mudblood yet. He'd probably lost his mind. ONESHOT. Crackfic in response to a challe


_**Wizard's Chess**_

_-irishais-_

Hermione Granger had oddly pretty hair. Draco still had no idea how he had managed to end up seated at the same table with her, playing a game of wizard's chess, for over an hour and he hadn't even called her a Mudblood yet. He thought maybe her hair had something to do with it.

"Your move." She twisted a rogue curl around her fingers and stared at him from across the enchanted board. Draco nearly choked on the mouthful of pumpkin juice that he had forgotten he had taken before Hermione's hair had distracted him. Somehow, he had become intensely fascinated in the way the midday light streamed through the windows of the Great Hall and glittered in her curls--

_You are losing your mind,_ his subconscious informed him. _Hello? Mudblood? Yeah. No. Admiring her _hair_! Have you gone completely _mentalWith a swift kick to the neural synapses, Draco's mind managed to force its way back to the situation at hand. "Right. Knight to D4." The black piece moved in its traditional L-shape, and ended up being obliterated by Hermione's rook. Draco took another enormous mouthful of juice in order to hide his scowl behind his goblet.

_Good god, she has nice hair._

He stared at her over the rim of the cup.

"Draco, you're dripping?"

"...Eh?"

Hermione gestured at his chin. "I didn't know you drooled orange," she commented, passing him a napkin. "Walk in the path of a Befuddlement spell?" He looked up sharply from blotting juice out of his House tie, and wondered how a half-breed could be as pretty as she was.  
"What?" _Nice. You're a real smooth talker, Malfoy. Great way with the ladies._

She rephrased the question. "What's got you so distracted?" Absently, Hermione tossed a few locks of wayward brown curls over her shoulder.

_Do not stare at her hair. Do not stare at her hair. Do not--ah, crap. _

"Draco?" Hermione tilted her head and looked at him curiously. "Are you there?"

_Words, Malfoy! You remember words, right? You know, those things that form sentences, occasionally questions? Spells, even? _  
He vowed that soon he would find a way to magically eradicate that irritating voice from his mind. "Oh, no, I'm fine. I'm just relishing in the thought of your utter despair when I bea--" He glanced down at the board, assessing his status in a game he had almost forgotten he was playing.

_Shit._

She was kicking his _ass._

"Erm." Out of desperation, he moved his queen and managed to claim a pawn. Her bishop slaughtered the opposing piece, and the move left Draco in inescapable, obvious checkmate.

"Well," Hermione said, "I'd love to stay and play again, but I promised I'd meet Harry--"

"Right. Potter. You're..._involved._" The word tasted foul. He had forgotten about Potter.

"And here I was thinking we could go the entire lunch being civil to one another, but you've gone and fouled it up. Good to know some things never change." Hermione stood and gathered her books with a touch of irritation.

"Granger--"

"Have a nice day, Malfoy." She set off down the long center aisle to the exit.

_Crap_. Draco had no idea what had come over him, and would likely be dead and buried by the time he figured out why Hermione Granger of all people had managed to reduce him to a gibbering idiot. He would have to do some damage control, and fast, if he had any hope of getting out of the Great Hall with his reputation still mostly intact.

He wished he knew what had possessed him to ask her to play chess with him in the first place.

"Granger!" His voice carried over the din of the lunch crowd, and the Hall abruptly silenced. Hermione stopped before the doors, and looked back at him.

"Yes?" she asked tartly.

"Er..." _Tell her she's a toad! _"You have really pretty hair!" he blurted, and immediately wished he could Apparate. Or die.

Hermione blinked, and automatically reached a hand up to smooth the feature in question. "Uh...thanks?" she managed, a blush spreading rapidly across her cheeks. She turned back to the exit and practically ran out of the Hall. The students remained in absolute silence for a few agonizing seconds as all the blood drained from Draco Malfoy's face at his own idiocy.

What seemed like all of Hogwarts burst into riotous laughter. Slowly, Draco slid back into his seat and kept going until he disappeared under the table, fervently wishing he knew how to Transfigure the floor so that it would open up and swallow him whole.

_-end-_

_A/N: The result of a challenge between ssugrimgirl and I. We vowed we wouldn't leave our usual hangout, the 24-hour diner down the street, until we had both completed at least ONE short fic. She wrote Pyramid Head crackfic, and I bring you a bit of poor Malfoy's impossible love life. As always, reviews appreciated!  
_


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